Company Leaders Stress Commitment to Customer Needs, Employee Safety

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., Oct. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- With Hurricane Sandy's landfall imminent along the Eastern Seaboard, Verizon continues to finalize its emergency plans to serve consumers, businesses and government agencies, and keep them connected and online at work, at home and on the road.

Verizon Wireless Communications Stores along the East Coast plan to be open Sunday ( Oct. 28), with store hours subject to change throughout the day, based upon local conditions and safety evacuations. Customers are advised to check by calling ahead to their local store.

Company-owned and -operated communications stores, which offer the latest 4G LTE smartphones, tablets and mobile broadband devices for laptops, have increased stocks of car phone chargers and portable universal charging devices which are essential to staying connected should commercial power become unavailable. Stores in Midwestern states threatened with an unusually early winter storm also plan to remain open, weather permitting.

The company has suspended most non-emergency activity in the East, such as non-essential construction projects and internal training programs, to ensure resources are focused on serving customers for the duration of the storm.

Verizon wireline and wireless business units have activated national and regional command and control centers, enabling Verizon operations teams to monitor the storm's progress and company operations, including network performance. Verizon has established communications with power and other service providers to ensure proper coordination in the event of storm damage. The company also has contacted vendors and other outside partners so that critical communications equipment and supplies can be prioritized, stocked and shipped expeditiously.

Company equipment -- including poles, fiber-optic and copper cable, portable cell sites that can replace a damaged cell tower and mobile emergency generators that can be used when local electrical power fails -- is being staged in and around the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.